Display of Aircraft State Information for Ambient Vision Processing using Helmet Mounted Displays

摘要

This report describes the work performed by Monterey Technologies, Inc. under a Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract. The goal of the work was the development and evaluation of a novel head mounted display (HMD) that provide helicopter pilots aircraft state information in a way that allows processing by the ambient visual system. A generic helicopter simulator was built for use as a testbed. Ambient displays were presented in the pilot's peripheral field of view while the pilots performed a series of low speed flight maneuvers. The characteristics of the ambient displays were manipulated in three separate evaluations. The first evaluation focused on the size, shape, and density of the objects in the ambient display. The second experiment focused on the relationship between longitudinal motion of the aircraft and motion of the ambient objects across the display. The third experiment examined the effect of providing a horizon. In general, the presence of the ambient displays resulted in improved performance for some, but not all, flight tasks. Detailed results of these studies and recommendations for future research on the effects of ambient displays on pilot performance are presented.